Shadow of the Past
by RyukoVulpix
Summary: Follow up to 'Shadow of a Hedgehog.' After shutting down ARK permanently, Sonic wonders what happened that created the vengeful Shadow he first met... and goes on a dark trip through time.


**Shadow of the Past**

.

.

.

Tails stood by me as we cut the power to the Space Colony ARK, forever locking the doors to any outsider.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked me.

I nodded. "It's only right... it's like a tomb... or a monument to Shadow... and Biolizard... and all the ones that came before them."

Tails nodded sadly. "Ready?" he asked me.

"Yep." I held the Chaos Emerald above our heads. "Chaos... Control!!"

Back on Earth, we walked silently through the darkness of the night.

The wind whistled through our ears.

Tails was quiet for a long time. Then he spoke. "I've never seen anything like that before... so many experiments. Professor Gerald Robotnik must have really been something..."

"Yeah..."

"The first Bernoulli spherical space colony... ARK."

"Yeah... what?"

"Never mind."

We continued on, walking the streets of some forgotten town, not knowing where the road was taking us.

"Sonic?"

"Mm?"

"What do you suppose happened to Shadow...? From what you told me... he seemed so different..."

"We may never know, Tails..." I sighed.

As if on cue, the winds picked up speed. My teeth clenched and my quills rattled... it was cold...

Tails was clinging onto me. Poor little kid. "Sonic... I'm scared..."

"Don't worry, little buddy..." I said, reassuring him. "It's just a windstorm... no big deal..."

Then the wind whistled again... like it was speaking...

... but it was really speaking this time...

... I'd heard it before...

"... do you really wish to know... what happened?"

My eyes snapped open.

... that was Shadow.

.

.

.

As my eyes opened, I realized I was on ARK.

But that couldn't be right...

It was strange. Tails and I had just cut the power, not five minutes ago, but...

... all the lights were on...

... and it was even flashing red...

What was happening?

I stood, kind of confused...

... then I felt...

... excited...

.

_I was so scared... but still excited..._

_... maybe I'd go to Earth..._

.

Wait...

... I'm from Earth...

... no...

... what?

Where was Maria?

_What?_

I would have sat down and wondered some more in confusion... but I couldn't even control my body.

The red lights flashing... The ARK seemingly in chaos...

Then I heard someone...

I turned my head quickly, in the direction of the voice.

... it was Professor Gerald Robotnik...

And with him...

... that girl...

My mind flashed instantly,

"_Professor!! Maria!! What's going on?!"_

I was shocked as the words left my mouth. I was shocked at my own voice.

Or rather, the voice of the body I was in.

_'Where am I?! Who am I?!'_

The professor spoke quickly. He sounded really urgent.

"_Maria, listen very carefully to me! I want you to go up to one of the labs, find an escape capsule, any capsule, and leave ARK. You must get out of here!!"_

Maria was crying. "Grandpa..."

Professor Gerald spoke to her again. "Maria, I'll meet you when you reach Earth... you should arrive there safe and sound... Stay in the capsule until I come to you... And don't worry about landing in the ocean," he added. "All the capsules have a homing device that will bring it to the government headquarters." He added to me, "Keep her safe."

I nodded despite myself.

Maria and I turned and ran down the hallway. I grabbed her hand and tried to pull her faster.

... how did I know which way to go?

I heard the professor calling from down the hallway,

"I love you, Maria! Take care, both of you!"

I felt a sense of devotion to this girl... this girl I didn't even know.

No... wait. That wasn't me.

This wasn't me.

This was...

I would have stopped in my tracks at this moment, but...

... he...

... Shadow kept going.

I started feeling tired...

But how could that be?

I'd seen Shadow go nearly as fast as me back on Earth...

Didn't matter.

I had to get Maria to safety...

The hallway was long... I was tired...

... then the worst part of this already bad dream began.

I heard footsteps, heavy footsteps behind us.

I couldn't bear to look, so I kept going.

Or maybe it was Shadow who couldn't look.

But I...

... he...

... we both heard their voices.

"_Don't let them escape!"_

What kind of nightmare had I stumbled onto?!

I heard Maria breathing hard beside me.

I was worried. She didn't sound very good...

"_Maria..."_ I said.

"_I'll be okay..."_ she answered me.

_You're Maria, huh?_ I tried to say.

But couldn't.

So I thought. I thought as hard as I could...

'_Shadow... where are we? What are we doing?'_

But he couldn't hear me.

But wait.

... what was I doing?

Maria was dead. Professor Gerald Robotnik was dead.

Shadow was dead. Possibly, anyway.

There was no more time for thought.

We reached the lab.

But I heard the people behind us.

"_Stop or we'll shoot!"_

My eyes widened in shock. I could see them coming after us.

Maria ran to the controls. I saw her doing something.

Then I heard it...

It was almost...

... in slow motion...

... they shot...

... they shot

_at Maria..._

_...they got her..._

_I felt my breath quickening, coming in short breaths..._

_My eyes became blurry..._

_My throat tightened up..._

"_NO!!" I screamed, and ran towards her..._

_I could see blood..._

_... why Maria..._

_... Maria..._

_... my best friend..._

_... always there for me..._

_... how could I let this happen to her?!_

_How could I let her down!!_

"Maria!!" I screamed again.

She stopped me... just as I was going to reach her...

"No... Shadow..." she breathed lightly...

I heard my breath coming in ragged gasps...

I felt things that I'd never felt before...

But I wasn't really the one feeling them.

Maria pushed me back even more...

I looked around, completely confused...

... scared...

"What..." I heard myself say.

Then I saw her do the unthinkable...

... she shut the capsule...

... I was in it...

... no...

I screamed

"_Maria!!"_

"_Shadow, I beg of you, please do it for me...for a better future! For all the people who live on that planet...give them a chance to be happy..."_

_My vision was shaking and blurry._

_I felt the capsule vibrating..._

'_Maria, don't,'_

_I thought helplessly..._

"_Maria..."_

_She was about to send me into space..._

_... to Earth..._

_I heard her last words..._

"_Let them live for their dreams. Shadow, I know you can do it. That's the reason you were brought into this world."_

_I would have sobbed... but I couldn't..._

_... I was too shocked..._

"_Sayonara... Shadow the Hedgehog..."_

_..._

_... I was in space..._

_... I was gone..._

_... she was gone..._

_Tears raced down my face as I sat in the capsule..._

_Alone..._

_... all alone..._

_... Maria was my friend_

_my sister_

_my best friend_

_even like my mother sometimes_

_my most favorite person in the world_

_... I was heartbroken..._

"Shadow..." I whispered as I sat there, in the capsule with him.

I felt every single throb of his heart,

every single tear that fell

every single pain behind his eyes

and all the emotions he felt...

... I was right there beside him.

I saw him in the glass of the escape capsule.

I could see him, for the first time since this all started.

I could see all the pain and sadness in his face...

I could see his red eyes, made even redder from crying...

... to lose someone he'd loved so much...

I thought of how I'd feel...

... if I lost Tails...

... Amy...

... Knuckles...

... any of them...

... and I realized...

... Shadow didn't even have anyone else to turn to.

If I lost someone I truly cared for, I knew that the others would be there to pull me through...

... just the same as after Shadow... disappeared.

Wait...

I could think clearly now... almost.

Shadow's thoughts were so separate from mine now... I could think my own thoughts without being interrupted...

These people who were certainly dead... the ARK being in complete working order, even if it had just been shut down...

... where was I?

... or...

... when was I?

My thoughts were interrupted again by a shock of panic.

The Earth...

... it was getting a lot larger...

... I felt myself curling up into a ball, like all hedgehogs in danger...

I was panicky.

What was going to happen to me?

The capsule was surrounded by fire...

Sheer flames, heat...

... then it hit.

The capsule didn't shatter... but it wasn't completely unharmed, either...

I felt myself breathing fresh, clean air...

Someone was coming...

I forced my eyes open...

A tall, shadowy person...

_... not Maria... not the professor..._

_... who was this?_

_I blacked out..._

_... I couldn't remember any more._

.

.

.

_The next few days passed in a complete blur..._

_... I was vaguely aware of the doctor doing something to me..._

_I lost my memories..._

_I wondered..._

_... where was I?..._

_... where was Maria...?_

_Then it'd hit me hard._

_Every time._

_Maria was dead._

_Even the professor knew._

_He told me..._

"_For Maria..."_

_He apologized for my pain..._

_Something happened to me..._

_I became faster, stronger..._

_The professor artificially enhanced all my abilities..._

_... I was changed..._

.

.

.

While I was seeing through Shadow's eyes, I felt everything he felt...

It was...

... a window to the past.

A haunted past...

I could feel the professor going insane...

... just as he'd said on ARK.

He changed Shadow.

He blocked out his memories.

Everything except Maria.

And what happened during those last minutes

became blurry...

Maria's words were distorted in Shadow's mind...

I recalled everything, clear as day...

But I felt Shadow confused at Maria's parting speech...

_Shadow... do it for me... for all those people on that planet..._

I could feel Shadow thinking...

... revenge.

"_No,"_ I wanted to say to him. _"Maria wants the people of Earth to be happy... isn't that what you wanted, too...?"_

But he couldn't hear me.

... and I knew

that whatever dream I was having...

was one of the past.

And you can't change the past.

.

.

.

Eventually, Shadow was able to get up and walk around. But he wasn't allowed to.

Every second of every minute of every hour of every day...

... I was monitored.

Shadow was monitored.

Not that he'd notice.

He was way too absorbed in his thoughts.

We knew that we were alone...

... fear, anger, sorrow... they all mixed together into one thought...

"_... I miss Maria..."_

.

.

.

I don't know when I heard, but I found out that the professor was being taken away by G.U.N.

G.U.N...

That very word...

... those three letters...

... they filled me with such a rage, it scared me...

... it wasn't me feeling the anger... it was Shadow.

Or was it?

I was completely terrified, locked away somewhere in Shadow's mind.

Where was Tails?

Knuckles?

Amy?

Anybody?

... we weren't born yet...

I shivered.

... the images I saw...

... they were before my time.

I couldn't understand.

And even though he acted tough, for his own sake...

... I felt Shadow scared inside, too.

_Eventually, it felt as it there was nothing more to life than to avenge Maria..._

_I had a mission... and I was going to fulfill it._

_Maria gave me a mission..._

_... a wish..._

_... a wish that I, Shadow_

_will grant..._

Those thoughts ran through

my

Shadow's

our mind...

Until the professor was taken away, to be questioned in a small cell on Prison Island...

... the military took Shadow along, too...

_I was the only thing left in the professor's posession..._

_... naturally, they had to get rid of me._

I was never so scared...

Shadow was so full of anger, hatred...

... so vengeful...

... this was the way I'd known him...

... when I first met him...

... and it was all because

of a fractured memory...

It was the professor's doing...

... Shadow's memories, broken, destroyed, cast away like trash...

Those old, precious, peaceful times, scattered like ash on the wind...

Maria's broken words, unknowingly giving Shadow the wrong message...

_Then I was sent..._

_... to be frozen..._

_... forever..._

_... sealed away, unless the military had a need for me in the future..._

_The government was simply freezing me, so the professor had no idea as to what they were planning to do to him._

_I saw differences in the professor._

_He only cared about avenging Maria..._

_... so did I._

_But he was insane._

_I wasn't._

_I kept my head. I could get out of here._

Shadow was planning escapes... and revenge.

I felt every thought he did.

This was so different from the more innocent Shadow from ARK...

_Then... one day..._

_... the military came to me, to take me away..._

_... seal me somewhere on the island._

They caught Shadow unaware, so he had no chance of escape...

... they dropped him... me... into a cryogenic freezing chamber.

I only knew what that meant from Tails telling me.

... it was terrifying...

They caught us... put us in the chamber...

... it got cold...

How could they do this?!

_I am... I am the ultimate life form..._

_I feel cold... my body is shutting down..._

_... I'm falling asleep..._

My mind stayed awake for a little bit longer than Shadow's...

I called to him, _'Don't sleep... don't sleep...'_

... but he couldn't hear.

We both sank into some kind of hibernation...

... it was quiet.

.

.

.

_Now, wake up_

_._

.

.

But... in seemingly no time at all, we felt something

... something pulling at us to awaken

.

.

.

_I was awake again._

_I felt a little stiff... as if I hadn't moved for a while._

_I felt the chamber around me warming up..._

_... it was warm..._

_I was awake._

_Looking down, I saw a strange sight..._

_... it was... the professor..._

_... no._

_This man was most certainly a descendant of Professor Gerald's..._

_He did have, after all, more than one grandchild._

_Ivo. Ivo Robotnik..._

_That was Maria's cousin's name._

_I didn't remember him all too well... he left ARK when we were still both young._

_Or maybe we'd never even met before. My memory was crushed. I didn't know what was true or not._

_But I knew, from one look at him..._

_... he was most definitely both smart_

_and evil._

_... perfect._

.

.

.

_Now... I saw my light... a chance..._

_... for revenge._

"Since you were so kind to release me, my master... I will grant you a wish..." Shadow said smoothly.

I knew what Eggman was thinking. I knew the future that this led up to.

I knew the past. I knew the future.

"... this is enough..."

.

.

.

The past started to blur out, and I found myself looking at Tails.

I was lying on the ground...

"Sonic!" The little guy sounded worried.

"Uhm... yeah?" My head hurt... I wondered how long I'd been gone. Days, probably.

"Sonic... you all right, Sonic?" he asked.

"Yeah... how long have I been out?"

"Oh... about... I dunno... fifteen minutes."

"What?!"

Tails pointed at a hunk of wood lying several yards to the left. "The wind knocked a branch off a tree... it nailed you in the head."

I stood up. It felt good to be Sonic again.

Then the memory of everything I'd experienced hit me.

I shivered. Tails sensed something wasn't right.

"What happened?" he asked me.

I looked up at the sky, searching for ARK. I noticed there was a full moon. Well... as full as it could get, anyway.

I touched the Chaos Emerald sitting on the ground near me. I smiled sadly.

Chaos Control...

... that same ability...

"Let's go home, Tails," I said.

.

.

.

As we walked off to who knows where...

I could've sworn...

... for the second time...

... someone was watching me.

.

.

.

_I watched him and Tails walk off, going wherever their hearts took them._

_... hmm._

_I can't help but smile..._

_... I know he has a greater appreciation for his friends_

_his allies_

_his planet_

_his life_

_his world now._

_The winds died down now. I nodded slowly._

"_Thank you... for teaching me..._

"_... how wonderful this world and life can be..._

"_... thank you for teaching me to not live in the past..._

"_... but to look to a brighter future..._

"_... a happier future..._

"_... a better future."_

_And once more, her words flowed through my mind..._

'_... do it for me... for a better future...'_

_Yes... Maria._

_Your wish lives on... through Sonic._

_My dark fur hid me from view, as the pure darkness of night enveloped me._

"_I will look to the future..."_


End file.
